08 May 2008

Rant of the Day - Doris Burke

I am watching the Spurs try to come back from being down 2-0 to the upstart New Orleans Hornets, and find it hard to believe the current ESPN NBA broadcasting crew...Who in the world is Doris Burke, and what in the name of all things pro basketball is she doing as the color analyst? Before you accuse me of being a pig, hear me out. The job of the color analyst is to add insight and analysis into the game, based on their knowledge and experience of the game. Who were ESPN's other NBA color analysts this year? Jeff Van Gundy (former NBA coach), Hubie Brown (former NBA coach), Jon Barry (former NBA player), Rick Carlisle (former NBA coach), and Mark Jackson (former NBA coach/player). Nothing against Ms. Burke, she has a good broadcasting voice, but come on, this is the NBA playoffs! Can we please save Ms. Burke for the WNBA broadcasts? How about bringing in an analyst who has some firsthand experience with the NBA game? I find it hard to believe that none of those other analysts were available. ESPN, I hope you're listening. Ms. Burke, if you are listening, please don't take this personally. It's not your fault you never got to play in the NBA. That's why there's the WNBA. Remember? You got next.

Thanks for reminding me of this post. Doris Burke has been playing basketball since the second grade, played basketball at Providence, and was inducted into the Providence Basketball Hall of Fame. She has been doing broadcasting since 1990. Correct me if I'm wrong, but to the best of my knowledge, she has never played in the NBA.

Three years later, my opinion remains the same: I want a person with NBA experience as the color analyst for the NBA playoffs.